Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Dad's a Bit Moved, Tears Are Coming Out
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I widened my eyes and looked at him.
A gypsy woman with a shaman son had no reason to go to the battlefield. Gypsies weren't particularly strong in combat, after all.
“……I said I'd work hard to help an important person. And that I'd come back. Of course, it could be a lie.”
The captain's eyes sparkled with sharp intelligence as he said that.
I was just about to ask his name and take his hand to lead him home.
But right then—
Ted and Ashid, the holy knights guarding beside me as I spoke with the captain, along with the muscle maids, all suddenly fixed their gazes elsewhere.
“Over there! Those shady bastards!”
“Bind them!”
At that moment, Dedri unnie spat out a curse she'd never uttered aloud before, thanks to my usual training.
“Grab that fucker—!”
The captain and I both widened our eyes.
Ted moved forward first, while Ashid and the captain densely blocked the space in front of me protectively.
“W-What's going on?!”
***
The muscle maids and Ted had roughly gauged Pat and Matt's power.
But since they'd hidden so well in the shadows, they hadn't been able to catch them.
However, the moment Pat and Matt saw Sien's good deed, they let their guard down in an instant.
And how could they not? The child hadn't counterattacked the captain who'd attacked her—instead, she'd embraced him with a broad heart. On top of that, she'd publicly promised to sponsor the orphanage. That tiny little kid…… had such admirable thoughts.
Their hearts choked up for a moment, and they forgot to slip back into the shadows.
“It's purifying…….”
“Getting assigned to this job…… was lucky.”
And at that moment of their carelessness, Ted—the holy knight who'd sworn loyalty to Sien—turned toward them.
Pat and Matt thought they needed to bolt right then, but they were overwhelmed by Ted's sudden burst of holy power.
If the two of them went all out, they could obviously escape or crush Ted.
But…….
“Huh?”
Sien was looking right at them.
Escaping always involved a fight. They couldn't dare spill blood in front of the pure, lovable, and kind Sien. So they couldn't bring themselves to run and were captured and dragged out.
As they were helplessly hauled along.
Pat and Matt were dragged before Sien with their eyes downcast.
“Sien-nim. These guys have been watching us the whole time.”
Ted reported calmly, and the muscle maids chimed in.
“That's right. They've been lurking around all shady-like since earlier!”
Pat and Matt plastered on the purest smiles they could muster. It was the look of 'We're good guys.'
Sien's eyes gleamed ferociously at the sight.
“What's your names!”
Sien clenched her tiny fists tight and glared at Pat and Matt.
“Drag 'em away, unnies!”
Pat and Matt widened their eyes. Overwhelmed by Sien's cuteness and charisma, Matt stammered.
“W-Where are you…….”
“Where else? Home! Captain, you come too!”
……And so, Pat and Matt, along with the captain, left the orphanage and entered the Mirmod estate. Where Mathias Mirmod awaited.
……They'd been told to watch quietly, but they'd gotten caught like total idiots.
Pat and Matt instinctively knew today was their execution day.
***
“Daddy, this is the captain!”
Having dragged all three along, Sien stood confidently before Mathias.
Mathias gave Pat and Matt a cold smile, then looked down at Sien tenderly. It was like Jekyll and Hyde, but Sien didn't notice.
Mathias asked her warmly.
“Captain?”
“Yeah! Went to volunteer at the orphanage and brought back a friend! Hee!”
“Volunteering at the orphanage…….”
Mathias eyed the captain coldly. As if wondering if this scruffy punk was trying to scam his kind Sien.
But no matter how he looked, he didn't seem like it.
Since they hadn't harmed Sien yet, he decided to leave them under surveillance for now, and stroked her head with a touched expression.
“Our daughter did a good deed?”
“Yeah!”
“Daddy's so moved…… tears are coming out a bit.”
A slight quiver entered Mathias's voice. Of course, half of it was acting.
Sien stomped her feet excitedly and grabbed Daddy's hand tight.
“Daddy, eat some rice. Your heart's too soft.”
“Yeah…… right.”
The captain, who didn't know much about Mathias's reputation, looked unimpressed.
But Pat and Matt gaped at the scene.
Was this really the Mathias-nim they knew?
They weren't hallucinating right before death, were they?
“Ah, but Sien.”
Then, thunderbolt news struck them.
“Our daughter caught these bad guys?”
Pat and Matt looked at Mathias with wronged expressions. But Mathias had already written them off.
Sien beamed innocently and pointed at Pat and Matt.
“But these uncles are dummies!”
“Hm? Why?”
“I knew they were gonna run, but they got caught right away! Gonna beat 'em!”
“Can't you leave it to Daddy? Daddy'll interrogate them. Sien's still too young.”
Sien narrowed her eyes at Mathias.
It was the face of 'This nice Daddy won't go soft and botch the interrogation, right?'
“Yeah! After Daddy interrogates, Sien'll interrogate too!”
Mathias couldn't hide his fierce expression as he looked at Pat and Matt.
“Yeah. They could be dumb spies caught by a single holy knight…… or something.”
Pat and Matt felt a chill run down their spines.
Death was approaching.
But thankfully, it seemed they had a god on their side—Mathias tore his gaze from them and looked at Sien gently again.
“Daughter, so what'd you do at the orphanage today?”
“Heehee, thought of Daddy.”
Mathias broke into a beaming smile at that. The cold face bloomed into a goofy grin, which was pretty cute.
Of course, that was from Sien's perspective.
To everyone else, he looked like a vicious grim reaper.
Sien poked Daddy's cheek with her index finger and giggled.
“Silly. So cute.”
Pat and Matt wore expressions like 'Are we hallucinating right before we die?'
Even if she was his daughter, how dare she tarnish Mathias-nim's dignity……
Mathias-nim seemed to dote on Sien a bit, sure—but touching his face?
Things had been serious since earlier. Were they really gonna die like this?
And Mathias-nim was grinning ear to ear. Like a wicked grim reaper.
Pat and Matt, who had already grown deeply attached to Sien, spoke up at the same time.
Please don't bully Sien.
“Th-.”
……But Mathias said, as if embarrassed.
“Daddy's always been cute. And nice.”
The shocked pair shrank back.
The heavens and earth had flipped.
Mathias-nim said something like that……?
And one more person was confused.
It was Ashid, who had awakened his healer powers to save Sien from Mathias Mirmod.
He'd awakened to rescue Sien from Mathias Mirmod. What was going on?
Ashid looked at them with more chaos than the villains felt.
He needed to go find Leonhardt, who'd told him the story.
***
Was it because Axel Mirmod was due to arrive at the estate soon? The mansion where Leonhardt stayed was packed with people.
Even amid the bustle, when told Ashid had come, he appeared quietly without a hint of annoyance.
“Did something happen to Baldie?”
Ashid cautiously mentioned the situation he'd observed so far.
Leonhardt's face instantly went pale.
“……W-What? No way.”
“But it's true. How did this…….”
Unlike the flustered Ashid, Leonhardt quickly regained his composure.
He bit his lip hard and muttered.
“That genius…… finally won over even Mathias-nim?”
“Seems like it.”
Leonhardt touched his mouth and murmured.
“She's so cool. At this rate, she might even melt that threatening Axel-nim…….”
Ashid, whose shoulders had slumped at the thought he couldn't protect Sien, perked up.
“Axel-nim?”
Leonhardt nodded at Ashid. The boy before him seemed clueless about who Axel was.
“Yeah. Didn't I tell you?”
Seeing Ashid's docile face, it looked like he'd forget even if told.
Leonhardt briefly explained who Axel Mirmod was.
The Mirmod family had two mad dogs: one was Mathias, the other Axel.
After Mathias was pushed out of succession due to some incident, Axel Mirmod steadily seized power.
But he left his Axel estate to his close aides and rolled around the battlefield. As if he couldn't hold back from killing anymore.
And it was true. Axel Mirmod slaughtered people like a blood-mad demon. Good or bad, rumors spread that all fell to his blade.
Unlike Mathias, who only killed those planned obstacles in his path, Axel acted like a truly berserk mad dog.
So he was, quite literally, terrifying.
Leonhardt glanced at the pocket watch in his pocket.
Ashid, watching him quietly, tilted his head.
“Ah, time to head out. Gotta get lessons from the Duchess. Lately, she's been brainwashing me that I have to follow Baldie. As if I don't already devote all my loyalty to Baldie.”
Lately, Leonhardt had been taking separate lessons from a mage at the Duchess's mansion. That seemed to be what he meant. Ashid nodded enviously and replied.
“Yes, let's go together!”
Ashid wanted to hear more. Stories about Sien from those around her.
His mood would ripple like waves when he heard them, but he still didn't want to not hear. He kept wanting to know more about Sien.
'The more I hear, the weirder I feel.'
He couldn't pinpoint exactly why it felt weird.
When Sien's people talked about the Sien he didn't know, his heart felt like it was surging with strange waves. Sometimes like gentle ocean ripples, sometimes just plain odd.
The young Ashid hadn't yet realized that sensation was jealousy.
As Ashid stepped forward, lost in his emotions, Leonhardt was in a similar state. He swallowed a groan and muttered lowly.
“Anyway, even Baldie melted Mathias-nim…… How is that possible? Is she really a god?”
In truth, Sien hadn't melted him—Mathias had loved her from the start. But Leonhardt didn't think that way.
He was just suspecting, perfectly reasonably from his perspective, that Baldie had done to Mathias what she'd done to him.
“To me…….”
“You're saying she's a god to you?”
Ashid nodded shyly and carefully. He'd blurted it out earlier in shock. But now he was embarrassed again.
Leonhardt glanced at Ashid and sank back into his thoughts.
She even melted Ashid.
People called handling them 'leadership.' But Baldie hadn't learned leadership—how was she applying it so well in real life?
Was she really a god?
And so, layer upon layer of new misunderstandings about Sien piled up in Leonhardt's mind.
He dry-washed his face and whispered lowly.
“I knew she was a genius, but mastering leadership too? Impressive on a human level.”
Misunderstanding built upon misunderstanding.